Iran refrains from confirming handover of suspects to Saudi Arabia

Iran yesterday refrained to confirm reports that it had handed over 16 Al Qaida members to Saudi Arabia as revealed by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal.

Hamid Reza Asefi, Iran's foreign ministry's spokesman, told Gulf News yesterday: "On the basis of UN resolution those Afghans of Arab extraction who entered Iran have been handed over to their respected countries and it would be up to those countries to confirm the affiliation of the handed over detainees to the Al Qaida network."

Asefi also added that the respective countries would be responsible for providing any further information regarding the matter.

Referring to Prince Faisal's statment regarding Iran's extensive cooperation with U.S., Reza Yousefian a member of National Security Commission in the Parliament, told Gulf News: "Iran was really very helpful in fighting against terrorism not simply for U.S. but for the whole nations by sealing off its border toward ousted Taliban."

He also highlighted the role of Iran in Bonn Conference in creating the atmosphere of understanding among different Afghan groups. "Iran pooled off all of its effort to pave the way for Hamid Karzai to come to power in Afghanistan that is backed by Iran and USA," he added.

However, the Saudi Prince went ahead further to show he means more from extensive cooperation by suggesting to the Washington Post that Iran had also cooperated with the United States bilaterally to combat Al Qaida.

"The U.S. and Iran can speak for themselves as to how much cooperation happened bet-ween the two countries," he said.

A reliable source, who spoke to Gulf News on condition of anonymity, said that Iran had handed over nearly 150 Al Qaida fighters to their respective countries including some Arab countries like Yemen, in addition to Spanish and French detainees.

Faisal visited Tehran last week and met Iranian high-ranking officials to discuss regional affairs.

While Iranian officials kept silence over Faisal's stance, analysts believe that he wouldn't reveal this information without Iranian side's confirmation.